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Obituary for Joyce H. Gibbs
Joyce Gibbs, died Friday, March 1, 2019. Joyce was 79 years old. She was born September 7, 1939 to Helen Kidner (nee Dobrican) and Harry Kidner, and spent her childhood in the Downriver Detroit suburbs. Her parents divorced when she was small, which was followed a few years later by the death of her father. Her mother, who worked as a bookkeeper, remarried Raymond Gallimore, a steelworker at McLouth Steel in Trenton, Mi. He officially adopted Joyce after her father’s death, and they all later were joined by a younger brother, Jay Gallimore, and a sister, Jill Gallimore.
As a child, Joyce was an excellent pianist, and avid reader, and a very imaginative thinker – creating and acting out plays and stories with her collections of dolls and puppets. She also spent a lot of time with her father’s family – her great-grandparents, Mimi and Papa, her great-aunt, Kay, and her cousins George and Linnea, from all of whom she developed her great love of the world and her commitment to life-long learning. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in Wyandotte, MI, where she played the standing bass in the orchestra. Shortly after graduation she married Clark Mexicotte, and they welcomed two daughters – Debra in 1959 and Christa in 1962. Clark was an accomplished auto mechanic and Joyce attended business college, which led to a career as an Executive Secretary for a number of Detroit advertising, financial and legal firms. She was devoted to her career, and loved working, loved Detroit, and loved her family. In 1968 her marriage dissolved, and she focused on taking courses toward an Associate’s degree, raising her daughters, and engaging in hobbies she shared with her mother, such as needlework and baking.
When her daughters were in their early 20’s she met and married Clarence Gibbs, and auto modeler, and became a mother to three more daughters, Bridget, Shannon, and Kelly – whose mother had passed away five years earlier. They all settled in Birmingham, Mi where they were active in their Catholic faith and their daughter’s school functions. She also became a grandmother when Christa gave birth to a son, Anthony. Eventually she would be a grandmother six times over, with Christa adding another son, Nickolas, Deb and her husband Brian bringing Olivia, Fletcher, and Elinor to the family, and Kelly giving birth to a daughter, Ashley. She also shared her home with her devoted canine companion, Marvin, from whom she was inseparable for his 11 years.
In 2004, Clarence passed away after an extended battle with lymphoma, during which Joyce was a loving caregiver. They had been married 22 years. She subsequently retired from work and moved to Ann Arbor. She spent much of her time making new friends with other seniors at Lurie Terrace and at the Silver Club Senior Center, and always with Marvin at her side. As she began to struggle with the onset of Lewy Body dementia, she moved in with her older daughters and son-in-law, which allowed her to be cared for at home until she needed to move into a full-time nursing care facility in December 2018. There she received excellent care up until her death on February 28, 2019. She was preceded in death by her parents, Helen, Harry and Raymond; her husband Clarence and her ex-husband, Clark, her sister, Jill; and her beloved companion, Marvin.
A Celebration Of Life Service will be held at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home, 1368 N. Crooks Road (between 14-15 Mile Rds.) Clawson, Saturday, March 9th at 1pm. Friends may visit beginning at 11am. Burial in White Chapel Cemetery, Troy.
Memorials to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, 912 Killian Hill Rd., S.W., Lilburn, Georgia 30047.
